Leigh Photo

I Heart Faces – black & white

Rachel Petersen — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:04:41 +0000

This month the contest theme at I Heart Faces is “black and white.” I have always loved black and white photography, and only recently formed a relationship with color. All through grad school I used different kind of black and white film (that’s right, I said film) because it has this “take-your-breath-away” quality that I find hard to match using color. This has always been one of those photos for me. A beautiful girl, yes. But something about the hardness of her expression, and of the seams of the wood on the bench. It was begging to be made black and white. I hope you will take a look at more incredible entries at I Heart Faces!

Horn Family – Lucas turns one!

Rachel Petersen — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:58:33 +0000

Well it’s finally acting like Winter here in Kansas City! Just when I thought we could sneak by with just a handful of mild-weather days (no super-cold, and no snow!) nature had a different plan. :) The cold weather means that I do most of my shooting inside. It’s more of a challenge, technically, but I have to say, there are some perks to shooting on location in someone else’s home. I have the rare pleasure of capturing families, (especially kids!) in their natural environment, where they are most cozy and comfortable. I had such a great time with the Horns, and am honored to have captured so many milestones of their years together, from their engagement to the first birthday of their second child, Lucas. Here’s to many more years of Jackson and Lucas wondering why that crazy lady always has a camera in her face! :)

Jason & Jana

Rachel Petersen — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:56:01 +0000

I can only blame myself (and Christmas) for taking this long to post this gallery, though it seems like just yesterday we were in beautiful Cancun, celebrating Jason & Jana’s big day! Thanks to the both of you for choosing me. I not only had a blast shooting and editing your photos, but got a pretty amazing vacation out of the deal as well! Congrats to you and your new family!

Happy 2012!

Rachel Petersen — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:08:17 +0000

Happy New Year! I still have a LOT of work to do on my new blog, but I thought I would emerge from Holiday hibernation to play with some of my new Christmas toys. :) I am a big fan of standalone images, but sometimes collages can be a fun way to tell a story. These new collage templates can be used for photo albums, mini books, and more. I also have fun photo borders to make your images pop. These I hope to be featuring soon! Until then, here to show off a couple collages are Zoe and Julia!

Faya

Rachel Petersen — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:09:01 +0000

Well I certainly haven’t worked out all the kinks yet and BOY OH BOY is it a LOT of work to create a blog from scratch! But I am very excited to be creating my first post on my new blog!

This is Faya (short for Faenna). She is a spunky little thing so I got my exercise at our shoot! Spirited children are so wonderful to shoot because they challenge me to stretch myself as a photographer. And they are so much fun! I am lucky to have so many in my life.

Thanks for following me on my journey from my bare bones beginnings in the portrait world, to jumping into this business full time. I am loving every minute!

I Heart Faces – Let Them Be Little!

Rachel Petersen — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:32:00 +0000

This week at I Heart Faces the contest is “Let Them Be Little”. I love it! Kiddos are sooooo much fun to photograph. This is just one of my favorites. It was from a shoot I did in the Spring of Jackson and his little brother, Lucas. These are two of my favorite little ones, very dear to my heart. I have known their papa since we were this little! I love their interaction here, Lucas is clearly very curious about his big brother. Thanks for visiting and please check out more entries by clicking the link below!

Rocco and Claire

Rachel Petersen — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:07:00 +0000

I am a proud “aunt” to these two awesome kiddos, Rocco and Claire. I have known their mama’s since we were their age and it has been such a blessing to watch them grow. This shoot excited me so much, I can’t wait to start shooting more as I venture into new territory of making my business a full-time gig. Yay!

I Heart Faces – Hands

Rachel Petersen — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:51:00 +0000

I’m baaaack!

It’s been just about 3 months since I had my little peanut and my world has completely changed! He’s the light of my life, as I’m sure all parents say of their babies. But I have hopped back in the saddle and am excited to start shooting again!

This is another entry I am submitting at “I Heart Faces.” The category is “hands”. I took this shot of my little guy and his very proud grandpa. I was excited to see this weeks category because I have always had an interest in shooting hands. There are so many stories in a persons hands. There is the physical nature of the hands that tell you how old the person might be, or what they do for a living. There’s also the gesture. In this case, my fathers hands up close show that he has worked with his hands his whole life. They are tough and weathered, hands of a career construction worker. Yet his gesture is so nurturing, reflecting the enormous love he has for his first grandson. I am lucky to have him for a father, and Austin is lucky to have him for a grandfather!

Thanks for stopping by, and to see more wonderful entries under the category “hands”, please click on the button below!

Baby Lucas – 6 months old!

Rachel Petersen — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 02:25:00 +0000

Baby Lucas is 6 months old already? Is it possible? Time goes by so fast! This little guy is soooo sweet. He was such a trooper, posing for us and even giving us lots of smiles! And Jackson may be two, but he cooperated just long enough for me to snap a few of him and his brother. I look forward to many more shoots with two of my favorite little guys on the planet.

My favorite twins turn one!

Rachel Petersen — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:17:00 +0000

This shoot was extra special fun. I got to hang out with my old friend, Zack, his wife Candace, and their one-year-old twins, Julia and Zoe. These girls are really, really squeezable so it was hard to stay focused but I did my best. Thanks to all of you for a fun afternoon; here are a few of my favorites!